HI Brian G:
Common sense is something somewhat lacking in some of us when we are in
our teens and twenties. I used to race bicycles in the late 50's and through
the 60's. Drafting was a way of life. In a bike race you rode 6 inches off
the back wheel of the rider in front of you. For training we drafted
whatever we could. I had a 1956 VW 36 horse window bus. We would flip up the
rear hatch on a nearly flat back road and I would ride back there at 40+ mph
in a great draft. After about 5 miles we would turn around and my friend
would ride back there while I drove. We also drafted any diesel truck we
could catch on the road. A fully loaded diesel at that time probably would
only go about 45 mph on the flats and if you caught him going slow at the
crest of a hill or at a stop light you jumped in behind about a bike length
away and soon you are flying down the road at 45 mph. The best though was my
friend Fritz Lidel from San Francisco. He would duck in behind a Greyhound
bus on HWY 1 the coast highway and draft it all the way to Santa Cruz. There
he would wait and rest untill the northbound bus headed back to San
Francisco and draft the bus home. Those days the busses were much slower
than today especially on the hills and there are a ton of hills on the coast
highway.
Brian Decker
----- Original Message -----
From: "brian gochnauer" <brian at gochnauer.net>
To: <vwdiesel at vwfans.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 29, 2009 8:49 AM
Subject: Re: [Vwdiesel] Side bars to 1st posting
> Ah, don't worry about it Chuck, all of us with "common sense" knew you
> didn't hang behind that bus for miles and hours on end.
> There's always a few people out there with their righteous views that they
> fell are unapproachable, hence they remark on something that was just
> suppose to be taken lightly.
>> What is U.S.S.A.in your signature?
>> BrianG
>>> On Sat, Nov 28, 2009 at 10:08 PM, doonboggle <doonboggle at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> >
> > Whoa!! What a discussion my little 'off the cuff' comment about
drafting
> > brought about. Gotta think of another one.
> >
> > Just to let you fellows know, I don't feel I was ever in danger because
the
> > little rabbit was about 3/5 the size of the bus, and he could not see me
I
> > was being drug along so easily; and had the left foot up and barely
resting
> > on the brake edge ... ready if I had seen a taillight come on.
> >
> > Not enough to totally get off the fuel, but enough to say it was about
1/4
> > pedal to being out in the open. Also know the section of road we were
on
> > like the back of my hand ... straight as an arrow ... no on or off ramps
...
> > heavily fenced on both sides ... and traffic extremely light ... as are
most
> > roads in the mid section of the Nevada desert. Was only behind him for
> > about 3-4 miles, and eventually my inner self said to back off, which I
> > did. My comment was only made in connection to present the good mpg's I
got
> > with the little rabbit. For a first time posting, sure opened a can of
> > worms.... that makes for some good reading I must admit.
> >
> > I had taken all this coefficient of friction training in the skid pan
> > training and the driving course at the academy, and also in high school
back
> > in the mid 50's, when they set up a fellow with a pistol and blank who
shot
> > it off as the 56 chevy was driven by ... window open so driver ed.
student
> > could hear the shot ... and pound on the brakes to see how far one would
> > skid at 35 mph. Had forgotten about that course until just now.
> >
> > Chuck
> > Citizen: U.S.S.A.
> > IN GOD WE TRUST !
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Vwdiesel mailing list
> > Vwdiesel at vwfans.com> > http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/vwdiesel> >
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